The Kerley Chemical Company (now TKI) was founded more than 60 years ago in Texas, on both science and ingenuity. At a time when most natural gas plants in West Texas flared hydrogen sulfide, the Kerley brothers were able to turn this common byproduct into a successful business.

With their first plant in Pecos, Texas, they extracted elemental sulfur from the hydrogen sulfide byproduct. TKI was off the ground, selling sulfur-based fertilizers throughout North America. Today, TKI is a world leader in the production and marketing of specialty chemistries used in the agriculture, mining and process chemical industries.

TKI's core remains the same.

In late 1995, Tessenderlo Chemie acquired the Kerley business. But the core and basis of the company remains unchanged — to focus on processing by-product sulfur and ammonia gases from petroleum, gas and selected industrial operations, and turning these orphaned streams into added value products. TKI does this selectively to balance their environmental control offering with the supply and penetration of end markets for their ammonia and sulfur derivative products to agriculture, mining, water treating and industrial segments.

One important joint venture

The environmental services provided in processing off gas is typically characterized by long term service contracts, with TKI investing in turnkey facilities based on TKI expertise. One such joint venture is with Phillips 66, just completing its 26th year. At two key refining facilities, TKI processes 100% of the hydrogen sulfide gas. Close coordination and high service levels are characteristic of these service relationships.

TKI is a world leader in sulfur and thiosulfate chemistry and in introducing and promoting the application of these derivatives into commercial uses. The largest existing end market is agriculture.

The menu of products produced by TKI has other niche uses in a wide variety of industrial, mining, municipal, environmental and water treating applications. TKI works to promote logical and beneficial uses for the products produce and offered.

Another key acquisition

TKI acquired the business of Mobile Process Resources (MPR) in 1999, which had technology to assist oil refineries with providing a more efficient way to operate equipment designed to separate gases within the refining process. MPR offers technically advanced mobile and permanently installed equipment for the cleaning and recovery of gas treating solutions, world wide. MPR has expanded these technologies to have applications in gas plants, ammonia plants, steel manufacturing and LNG facilities.

NovaSource is formed.

With its close ties to world agriculture markets, TKI had another success in late 1999 with the purchase of a metam-sodium label and production facility. TKI formalized its efforts in developing and distributing regulated crop protection and ladled chemistries with the new NovaSource business unit in 2007. NovaSource serves all areas of regulated chemical market including agriculture, horticulture, turf, forestry, aquatic, structural pest control and biocides. This business group works to selectively expand and add proven labelled product lines to the company's portfolio and has been a key area of growth and investment for TKI in recent years.